Thought That Was a Given
by Increasing Paranoia
Summary: Sequel to Probably For the Best. Connor could honestly say that this could be the worst day of his life. And then he felt Stephen's arm around his shoulder.


A/N: Yes, I'm alive. *Insert usual disclaimer about not owning, etc., etc.* Enjoy

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Living with Stephen was...odd. The two men had worked out a system that seemed to be working, although Connor insisted on sleeping on the couch. No sense rushing a good thing, was there? Truth be told, Connor had never in a million years thought he had a chance with the man and now, they were not only dating but living together. It was as unexpected as stumbling across dinosaurs but Connor was thankful everyday that it happened. Well...most days. Today was not one of them.

An entire group of military men were crammed into an overheated kitchen alongside Team Brainiac (Connor decided to work on the name later) trying to figure out whether Helen (he couldn't bring himself to think of her as Cutter's wife) was telling the truth. His compass didn't show any sign of an anomaly but sure enough, as soon as the doors were open metal began flying.

"This is where you duck," Stephen said, a small smile playing on his lips. Connor dropped, barely registering anything other than the fact that Stephen had snatched that pan out of the air before it could hit him in the head. His boyfriend wasn't human.

And then Connor didn't have time to think because Helen disappeared through the anomaly and Cutter tried to run after her, though he failed but Stephen succeeded. Connor's chest exploded in pain as he smothered a yell. If Stephen survived, Connor was totally going to kill him. The minutes seemed to drag on for hours before the tracker reappeared and Connor shelved all of the day's issues in order to marvel at the terrifying beauty captured on camera. Helen may have lied about the sabre-tooths but the photos Stephen showed them were more concerning. That many anomalies in a single place could not be a good thing.

But that train of thought was put on hold as a flock of dodos made their way through the kitchen. After finally rounding the stupid buggers into a room, Connor took a moment to catch his breath. Or tried to, as Stephen rested a hand on his shoulder. _Focus, Connor, you're mad at him_ , he reminded himself. Thankfully, Abby was a great friend and her banter gave him something to focus on before herding the dodos back through the anomaly. Well...most of the dodos.

Connor was not sorry that he was missing out on the dodo autopsy. Despite the fact that bad things tended to happen to him, the young man liked to think he was an optimist. Yes, a good amount of bad things had happened that morning, but he was skipping the autopsy and that was _good._ At least until Duncan showed up and said that he and Tom had made off with one of the dodos. Hearing the professor confirm his worst fears did nothing to help and Stephen's sympathetic look just made him want to curl into a ball.

Finding out that his best mates had bugged him and knowing that Abby was in danger because of him was a one-two sucker punch to his guts. Tom dying in his arms destroyed what little faith he had left that they were doing good. Connor had no more fight to give.

"I can't do this anymore," he stated, feeling hollow.

"Come here," Cutter said gently, taking him by the arm. "We need you," he confessed. Connor let out an airy laugh.

"If I hadn't been involved Tom would still be alive." Connor told him.

"No," Cutter disagreed as he shook his head. "There's a handful of people in the whole world that know what's going on here, what we're grappling with, and you're one of them. That would have made his day. He'd have loved it. So you can't bail out now. Okay?"

"Okay," Connor agreed. He didn't know if Cutter really meant what he said, but it was what the younger man needed to hear.

"Now come here," the professor told him, pulling his student into a hug. For the first time that day, Connor gave into the tears and Cutter let him. If anyone could understand loss it was the professor. He let Connor lose his facade and when he managed to pull himself together, Cutter saw him safely to Stephen's side while he and Claudia discussed what to do with Tom's body and how to handle Duncan.

"Let him be," Connor told them miserably

"Connor, he _stole government property."_ Claudia argued.

"And his best friend's dead!" Stephen snapped as he placed an arm around Connor's shoulders. Connor tried to pull up the memory of that morning, when Stephen had his hand on his shoulder and they were all amused by the stupid birds.

"Besides, Claudia, who's going to believe him?" Abby stated, picking up where Stephen left off. Claudia huffed but seemed to give in and Connor tuned out. He didn't want to know what was decided when it came to Tom's body. He could already picture Lester dictating a letter to Claudia, explaining to his parents how he died in a tragic accident while Tom's body was wheeled into the lab for further study. Connor shivered despite himself and Stephen's arm tightened around his shoulders before he stood up and pulled Connor to his feet.

"Come on," the tracker urged, guiding the younger man out of the stadium. Connor gave no resistance as Stephen pushed and pulled at him and the older man knew shock was setting in. The ride home was a quiet one and Connor crumpled on the couch as soon as he reached it. Stephen continued to the kitchen to put the kettle on, slightly unnerved by the younger man's silence.

Connor was noise and color and mess. He was naivete and awkwardness and frustratingly endearing. He was many things but he was not quiet. Stephen couldn't even count the number of times he's woken up in the past week because Connor was talking in his sleep. Stephen would get out of bed and pad into the living room, listening to a one-sided debate as Connor argued with an unseen opponent while he slept on the couch. Stephen's musings were cut short as the kettle boiled. He quickly made a cuppa before joining Connor on that same couch.

"Here," he stated, wrapping Connor's hand around the cup. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. Connor shook his head 'no' while he curled into Stephen's side.

"Thanks," he said, resting his head on Stephen's shoulder. Silence permeated the flat, occasionally interrupted by Connor sipping his tea. "How are you?" he finally asked and Stephen couldn't help the laugh that escaped. Connor recoiled, but Stephen quickly caught him, tugging him back against his side.

"Con, you're worried about _me_? I'm fine. How are _you?_ " he asked. Connor turned his head away, blinking back tears.

"It's been a tough day," he answered softly.

"You scared me," Stephen confessed. "Seeing you with so many guns pointed at you... And when Tom's eyes changed color..." he trailed off with a sigh. "Promise me you'll at least _try_ to stop putting yourself in deadly situations," he requested.

"I'll give it a whirl," Connor said with a small smile. It was nowhere near his usual grin but Stephen accepted it as a start.

The next few days gave the two men some sorely needed time off, though Stephen banned Oblivion after finding Connor crying over Tom's Level 3 save file. He would have preferred a few more days off but the anomalies had a different idea. All too soon they were looking across a golf course, trying to figure out what killed a golfer. Or Stephen was. Connor had let out a gasp and run off as soon as he jumped out of the car. The older man had no idea where the younger man had run off to and that didn't sit well now that they knew a pterodactyloid pterosaur was on the loose. Although Cutter assured them that the pteranodon ate reptiles and fish, Stephen wasn't willing to give the creature the benefit of the doubt.

"Is that Connor?" Abby asked. Stephen's head whipped around and he watched his boyfriend job around the golf course.

"What's he doing?" Stephen demanded. He was going to be _quite_ upset if Connor got himself eaten.

"More importantly, what's our friend up there doing?" Cutter asked as he peered through his binoculars.

"He's not looking for a roost," Stephen realized. "He's looking for lunch...CONNOR!" he shouted. Abby and Cutter quickly joined him, though Connor's attention seemed fixed on the ground.

"Get. Into. The trees!" Abby screamed.

"Run, you idiot!" Stephen added. "Run, Connor," he whispered as the student finally realized his predicament. He chest constricted as Claudia and Cutter argued over shooting the pteranodon and he made sure to add his opinion. "We can't take that chance," he told Cutter, firmly allying himself with the "don't let Connor be shredded to bits" party, and he seethed when Cutter purposely threw off Ryan's aim.

"He's got a lizard with him," Cutter stated.

"Oh, no. Rex escaped!" Abby gasped. Because of course Abby kept a dinosaur. And of course Connor knew about it.

"That's why he ran off," Stephen muttered, putting two and two together as Claudia and Cutter bickered in the background. Connor must have seen Rex when they pulled up. Knowing that Abby would be devastated to lose her pet, Connor had run after the reptile. Now, however, they needed to catch Rex and the pteranodon. "She'll be looking to roost," he finally pointed out, refusing to stay on the golf course arguing all day. That sent Claudia and her cronies on their way, giving the tracker a moment to confer with his mentor. Cutter, however, wasn't in a good mood either and Stephen was still sore that the professor would risk Connor's life on a hunch. Rather than confer, a small spat took place, only interrupted once Connor rejoined their party.

"That was a bit of a laugh, wasn't it?" the younger man asked with a grin.

"Silly arse," Stephen snapped, tugging him into a hug. Their quiet moment was short-lived as their team split up. Still, Stephen felt good knowing that all Connor had to do was find Rex while he and Cutter tracked down their culprit. It was quite satisfying bringing the creature down, even more so when the creature knocked Claudia out. He may or may not have laughed about it on the drive back to the anomaly site. In fact, he may or may not have been amused right up until the pteranodon dung revealed that it wasn't the killer. Something was still out there. And so was Connor.

When the explosion occurred at the hotel, Stephen immediately assumed the worst and felt perfectly justified doing so. Connor was his own special brand of danger magnet and Stephen knew that sooner or later the younger man was going to get himself killed. So when he turned up at the anomaly site with Abby and Rex, Stephen gave him the biggest grin he possibly could. Seeing the pteranodon fly back through the anomaly was extremely satisfying and in his joy, he grabbed Connor in a hug, spinning him around while they both laughed like little kids. Once he set the younger man down, Stephen framed Connor's face in his hands.

"You are going to be the death of me," he told him seriously. Connor chuckled.

"Stop. You'll make me think you've got feelings for me or something," he joked. Stephen grinned before pulling the other man into a kiss.

As they broke apart, Stephen gave him a smirk. "Thought that was a given."

~Review~


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